What if the hokey-pokey really is what it's all about?

new blog

2007-09-05T22:07:35Z

So in addition to not posting on LJ for forever at a time, I've also set up a new blog!

It's here!

Shameless self promotion from beyond the grave!

2007-01-19T10:35:17Z

...well, not exactly beyond the grave, but DEFINITELY from the other side of the international date line!!!

So...really..... it's shameless self-promotion from the FUTURE!!!

Anyway, I'm not sure who knows this, but:
A) the reason I haven't been posting here in the last, oh I don't know, year and a half, is that we've got a blogspot account for our time in Korea. We're still here, and it's still HERE.

B) I'm in a band over here with three other foreigners. Our various websites are:
our Myspace site. This one, for the time being, is the most comprehensive one we've got. Although we are working on...
A real website! It's limited at the moment, but at least it's ours! And finally, in case you really dig our sound, there's
Our CD online sales page!

*******end transmission*******

scary beyond all reason...

2006-01-05T04:04:38Z

At least I've got a competent security officer...

crossbelt @ 2005-11-17T03:46:00

2005-11-16T18:52:26Z

It's 3:44am local time and I decided to read up on my LJ friends page, which I've been sorely neglecting for a while. I'll be checking up more I promise.

However, I just thought I'd mention that it's funny how I'm over 10,000km away, in a completely and utterly foreign land, with an enormous language barrier and some truly hideous food mixed in with the quite good stuff, with the knowledge that I won't set foot in Canada for at the very least another 10 months if not longer, and just about the only thing that I truly miss is the smell of the Olde Stone while sitting around with friends (either playing Euchre or making fun of each other after jitsu) waiting for a brownie or another pint to arrive while it's snowy and cold as hell outside and the unplowed Peterborough streets are as ridiculous as ever.

You people (understandably) loathe the winter imagery, but it has its place, and I know you all love what you've got already, but just so you know, it *will* be something that makes your heart ache to think about if you ever find yourself in a position to not enjoy it on a whim anymore.

I'm going to bed. G'night.

--

PS I'm actually thoroughly enjoying myself here, in loads and loads of ways, but reading Jen's birthday update post really got to me for some reason. Miss you lot terribly, and will be making Peterborough my #3 stop when I'm back in the country (after the requisite and much-anticipated pair of family reunions of course)

Info and stories and pictures from Korea available at: http://lifeincheongju.blogspot.com

http://lifeincheongju.blogspot.com

2005-09-07T11:45:36Z

Just a quick shout out to all my LJ peeps from the far east.

Yo.

PS QUICK!!! Add mediocre_kahuna@yahoo.ca to your MSN lists so I can talk to you once we get the webernet hooked up in our apartment!

leaving soon!

2005-08-26T04:06:51Z

So we're leaving soon. Soon like this coming Tuesday.

We've had some delays with the flight and with our visas, so that's why it's no longer Sunday that we're flying out, but it's soon nonetheless.

The main point of this post, however, is to let all y'all know about the blog we'll be keeping while we're over there. It's at http://lifeincheongju.blogspot.com for those who are interested. Feel free to check it out/bookmark it/check it over and over again. There's a post on there now that outlines how things'll go with it for the first little while.

Ta!

movie? TONIGHT!??!?!?! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2005-07-21T00:06:14Z

An open invitation to Peterborough folks that know me:

Becca and I want to go see either Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (9:45pm) or Wedding Crashers (9:55pm) tonight. Anyone who's up for a last-minute movie adventure, come on out to Galaxy around 9:30-ish and we'll go from there.

Rippy the Gator went "chomp chomp chomp"

2005-07-07T12:38:14Z

It's come to my attention that the Arrogant Worms are awesome. End of story. Anyone who couldn't/didn't make it out to the Festival of Lights show last night missed out severely.

In other news, it's also been made quite clear to me that Peterborough is, in many ways, terrifyingly similar to Northern Ontario.

2 recent re-introductions to the Northern Ontario worldview:

#1: Driving up to Six Mile Lake park to go camping with some friends on Saturday, missed the turn-off, saw a restaurant sign on the 400, so we decided to pull off and ask how far past the exit we were. We cam across a nice-looking restaurant with a big sign that said "Mark's Famil Restaurant" with another slightly smaller sign underneat that said "Home-Cooked Meals". Rebecca and I looked at each other and thought that it would be a decent place to stop, as they, being a family restaurant, would likely have some kindly folk who would help us on our way. This restaurant was fairly isolated. Keep that in mind. So we pull into the parking lot, only to notice that under both aforementioned signs was another even smaller one that was purple and said "Club 69" on it. We got closer, and we also got more skeptical about our choice of help. Yes folks, at 7:30pm on a holiday weekend in the middle of the woods 20km south of Parry Sound, there was a strip club open. It wasn't a family restaurant. Not even a little. I just wonder about how many travelling families stopped there thinking they were getting grilled cheese and Shirley Temples and found nothing but cottage cheese and some old naked lady names Sherly. *shudder*

#2: we continued along the side road, confident that the strip club couldn't possibly be the "restaurant" that the sign was pointing us to, and, lo and behold, we found another one. We got directions from some friendly biker-looking yokels and were about to carry on our way when I noticed a rather large-ish sign beside the door that said "Welcome to Ontario: Where you can marry a FAG, but not smoke one." I shook my head and left.

Now, I've told this story to some other people and they've reacted pretty much the same way: mild resignation to the various "quaint idiosyncrasies" of Ontario in the rural near-North.

I tell the story to the two older guys that I work with at the Recycling Centre, forgetting where I am and where they grew up, and one of them laughs heartily for about 5 minutes at the "fag sign" and the other one shakes his head and says "yep, ain't that the truth" and carries on with his duties.

an open letter to temperatures above 30 degrees celsius...

2005-06-29T01:23:29Z

dear hot weather:

GO AWAY

up yours,
-Ryan

long overdue?

2005-06-15T23:05:56Z

Yeah, yeah, long time no updating...

So where was I...

Monday my parents came up to collect their vehicle which they were nice enough to lend us for the weekend so we could go to Becca's grandfather's 80th b-day party up in Pembroke.

They brought with them undeniable proof that insurance companies are run by some sort of logic-impervious satan spawn. so you all remember the accident that Becca and I had at the beginning of May (or at least hearing about it). Turns out that the insurance company called my parents (the car was still registered to my mom, as was the insurance) to tell them that as a result of the accident, they won't be allowing my parents to renew their policy with them. Which basically causes enormous trouble in the event that they need insurance ever again, which they obviously will. Dad called their broker, who went to bat with them with the company itself, and managed to sort out a deal, in a manner of speaking. Their "deal" was that I was to be taken off their insurance policy. That in itself isn't too big a deal (so I thought) because you don't have to be listed on a policy to be insured when driving that car. My uncle, for instance, can borrow my parents' car and it will be insured in the event of an accident. However, it turns out that the insurance company has not only kicked me off their policy, but they're making my parents sign an exclusionary clause in their renewed policy that only allows them a renewal on the condition that I don't drive either of their cars. I am the only licences person on the planet who is not allowed to drive my parents' cars. You wanna know why? Cause I had one (1) at-fault accident on top of the whopping two (2) speeding tickets, both of which were for going 10 km/h over the limit, had no points involved, and the most recent of which was over two years ago. Now it seems a little funny that you pay for insurance on your car(s) and then as soon as you have anything that involves them paying anything out (the whole purpose of having insurance) they insist that you are a dangerous hazard and that you shouldn't have insurance anymore.

Another weird thing about this is that I got a careless driving ticket (a mandatory thing, since the accident was my fault and the cops were called -- someone always ends up with a charge in cases like that) which involves 6 points on my licence. Those points will be there for 2 years, which is standard for any points you get on your licence. If those speeding tickets had been serious enough to warrant getting points, even the police wouldn't have a record of them anymore. The insurance company, however, keeps an at-fault accident on your record for SIX FREAKING YEARS. That's right folks, I'm going to be a whopping 29 years old before this accident is allowed to be completely behind me. When I'm just turning 29, I'll still be paying through the nose for a simple mistake that I made when I was 23. Does that seem a little excessive to anyone else? Anyone?

Also, the insurance company is insisting that no-one has yet been held accountable for the accident (quick review: I've been kicked off the policy, I've got an at-fault accident on my record for 6 years, my parents' rates have gone up) so they're tacking an at-fault accident on to my Dad's record. WHA? Besides the fact that I've got it on my record, and I was driving, the car I was driving was registered and insured under my mom's name. What they did was take a look at the vehicles on my parents' policy, found that my dad had a 2004 Santa Fe registered to him, and all my mom had was a 1998 Saturn sedan, and decided to up the premiums on the newer, more expensive car. I no longer wonder why some people are selfish enough to fake insurance information and try to run from accidents. I don't approve it, but I definitely understand it now.

-------------------------------
**end irritated rant**
-------------------------------

So while my parents were up I got my graduation present, which consisted of clothes from Moore's so I can be mildly respectable looking for the Koreans when I go to my job interview on Friday, and also so when I start working wherever I end up, I'll be well dressed. It was actually fairly fun. I'm fairly casual in my clothing choices (in case no-one noticed) but I do enjoy a good dressing-up from time to time. So I got a full business suit, another sport jacket, 2 other shirt-tie combos two other docker-esque business-casual type pants, socks and shoes, as well as an awesome London Fog overcoat. I can't help but wonder how many katanas I could fit in there.

Then I went to jitsu. It was warm. Very warm. Too warm. But oh so much fun.

And then last night was the mini-movie-fest of sorts. So mochapixie says that she'll be around, so people should go to see Kung Fu Hustle/Ong Bak at Cinema 379 starting at 7. I get there at around 6:50 to find the_china_man there and we wait and chat for a bit until it becomes reasonably clear that she's not actually coming at 7. At around that time, monter strolls up the street, and after a bit of a pow-wow, announces that he will be at St. Veronus drinking. Davy and I decide that since we'd both seen Kung Fu Hustle already, we'd reconvene at 9 in the hopes that more people would be there. So I went to St. Veronus for some puzzle-solving and beer-imbibing. Anyhoo, the movie crowd ended up being the_china_man, monter, mochapixie (she had been napping), m0535, daisycakes, Alex (novice at the Y) and myself. Good crowd. Ken and I were fairly tipsy at the time, which made for some entertainment even in times when the rest of the theatre probably would've prefered the movie to be the sole source. Good times. Incredible movie though. If you're into martial arts movies at all and don't mind subtitles, GO SEE IT!!!! It's worth it.

**end transmission**

so you've been to space. What it like there this time of year?

2005-06-04T12:38:22Z

Well, not only have I now shaken hands with someone who's been to space, she called me a jedi. And she'd know. She's been to space.

Convocation was good. Surprisingly so. My particular convocation ceremony was a fair bit longer than I had previously anticipated thanks to the unexpectedly huge number of B.Ed. grads from Trent's teacher's college (over 200) but the people I was sitting with were relatively friendly folk who seemed to appreciate, or at least tolerate, the occasional name-mocking remark from yours truly. Seriously, who thinks it's a bad idea to teach anything above grade 6 when all the kids are going to call you Ms. Bangs? Anyone? Thought so.

Anyway, I found out while sitting on the stage area waiting for the rest of the academic procession to academically process that the honorary doctorate was being given to Romeo Dellaire. I'm not entirely sure why I was slightly surprised when he started speaking and he had a fairly heavy French-Canadian accent, but I was. He had some good things to say, if slightly cliche, about no human being more human than any other human, etc etc. His vision for Canada becoming an international leader in the field of human rights and the like was well said, and (I believe) well founded. Looking at the graduates, he said, "in my generation, the nations of Europe and the old world looked at Canada as a young kid on the block, but your generation sees Canada more as a young adult, in their early 30s, ready to take on the world." I thought it was funny that he had Canada's perceived age narrowed down to "early 30s" but his point was clear.

I've always heard those things that hang down the backs of the graduation gowns referred to as hoods, but I've never understood why nobody ever wore them like hoods. If nature/Trent wasn't going to provide any useful shade then dammit I was going to make my own. Apparently I looked like a jedi. Awesome. If there are any particularly neat pics, I'll post them when I get around to it.

crossbelt @ 2005-05-25T20:08:00

2005-05-26T00:18:20Z

I've come to the conclusion that it's a bad situation to be in when you need money pretty badly, but really dislike the monotony of summer temporary employment. Becca's already convinced (at least partially) that I just lack a work ethic, so for that reason as well as others I'm sticking with this job, but it's just interesting to think about.

I don't think that I lack work ethic. I think I'm just selective of the things that I am interested in enough to throw myself into.

actually, before I go on, I'll clarify that Becca has never said that she thinks that, it's more just an impression that I get, and probably an overly-defensive one at that. Anyway...

I know it's not a unique phenomenon by any stretch, but I just don't like menial work. The job that I've got right now, which looks more and more like it'll be the only one I've got for the summer, is just about as menial as it can get. I'm working at the Household Hazardous Waste depot section of the Peterborough Recycling Centre. It's not nearly as risky and exciting as it sounds. What I'll be doing from 9:30am until 4:00pm Wednesday-Saturday is scraping out the contents of old paint cans into big buckets, and pouring old motor oil into a big container. I know. Thrilling, eh?

I'm torn though. I know that I'm lucky to have this job, since last summer I was forlornly unemployed between all-to-brief periods of sporadic employment, and I'm even luckier considering the circumstances under which I was hired, (I went in to get a replacement blue box, and just before I left I asked if they happened to be hiring. Turned out the manager had just gotten an e-mail letting him know that they were creating a summer position. I got it.) but I can't help but feel slighted when there are tons of jobs out there that I'm insanely over-qualified for, would love to get, would be incredibly good at, but time and time again get turned down for. I think I'm being taught a lesson, which is another reason why I'm going to stick this one out, dammit.

This is mostly just inane ramblings, but I blame it on the fact that I just started today, and I'm trying to find a way of coping with the fact that from now until the end of the summer, 24 horus a week are devoted to paint and motor oil.

crossbelt @ 2005-05-23T21:44:00

2005-05-24T02:22:05Z

whew

what an awesome trip.

For those of you who were/are unaware, I was in the Dominican Republic for a week between May 13th and May 20th. It was far too long to be away from Becca, but it was tons of fun apart from that. I went with three friends that I've known since high school, and one that I met a couple years ago through another friend.

Luckily enough, one of those friends works in web design, so it was nothing for him to throw together a website compiling pictures from the trip. And here it is.

It was all inclusive, including alcohol, so when we got off the plane at the end of the trip it was weird to be so far from anywhere that would happily serve you a rum punch without accepting any money. Or even at all.

So the drinking was good. And plentiful.

The food was a little less than what I expected, but it was present, and included, so we didn't complain too much. The resort itself was absolutely immense. We were staying at the far end of it, and it was about a 20-30 minute walk from our room to the central lobby area. It also had its own little main drag, which had a bunch of shops, a casino, a bar, a karaoke bar, a burger spot, a disco and a couple other things. It was a great routine that we found ourselves in. We'd spend the day hanging out (usually by/in the pool/ocean) then go for dinner, and then after a bit of down time head over to the main stage where there was always a show. After the show, the resort had nightly entertainment out on the street where they'd have idiotic tourists (*points to self*) get up and compete in ridiculous competitions in an attempt to win a resort t-shirt. After that was over, everyone headed into the disco for some well-deserved dancing. I didn't go to bed before 3:30am any night of the week. So awesome.

All in all though, it was the people we met that made it great. The resort was doing construction on the main pool area, and as a result it was operating at what I can only imagine was somewhere around 1/3 capacity. This made it even awesomer. It was a huge place, so the 1/3-full thing didn't mean there was nobody there, but it did mean that the group that was there was small enough that we could get to know a good number of them and all hang out together. Good times were had by all.

in the words of Joni Mitchell: "you don't know what you got 'till it's gone"

2005-05-03T04:23:51Z

... or as a more apt paraphrase "you only realize what you've got when the possibility of losing it is even suggested."

So that was, hands down, the most terrifying experience of my entire life.

The weekend started out (and continued along) incredibly. We (Becca and I) were given a weekend at a Niagara-on-the-Lake B&B called the Weatherpine Inn for the weekend and a gift certificate for dinner at The Pillar and Post as a belated (and incredible) wedding present, and we had been looking forward to it for a long time.

When we got there, everything was fabulous. Our room was amazing, the breakfast served to us was delicious, the Buttefly Conservatory was amazing, and the dinner Saturday night was absolutely unbelievable. Sunday morning we went to this neat little Anglican church called St. Saviour's Queenston for their morning service, and then we were going to look for a winery run by Becca's relative before getting some lunch at this little pub we found in town and then going to the Shaw play we had purchased tickets for.

We were driving up a country road enjoying the sunshine and generally awesome weather, trying to look out for signs for Coyote's Run Winery (tuns out we were in the wrong area entirely). We stopped at a stop sign at the corner of Line 3 and Four Mile Creek Rd, and let a green sedan drive past. Then, checking the road and not seeing anything, I pulled out to go along our way. Becca yells "look out! Watch out!" and I turn to see a red Buick Century driving at what I would guess to be about 70-80 km/h (based on the road he was on) about a foot away from Becca's door, and closing fast.

It's amazing how everything goes into movie-slow-motion mode at times like that. I can remember the entire scene like I was looking at a snapshot. There was becca staring at me, horrified, there was the blue, partially cloudy sky in the background, the yellow/green spring orchards and fields, and the front end of a Buick, a fraction of a second away from hitting us.

The next snapshot (I didn't black out, but the rest was in real-time, so it was too quick to catch) was equally surreal. We were facing the direction from which the Buick was driving, which amounts to about a 270 degree spin for us, about 50-100 feet down the road, both airbags were deployed and deflated, there were wisps of foul-smelling smoke coming from the airbag casings, the windshield was smashed, both passenger-side doors were dented and twisted, and Becca was completely unresponsive, kinda looking around but not seeing anything, not responding to anything I was saying to her, and letting out positively the most terrifying painful moan I've ever heard in my life.

this is the picture I see every time I close my eyes now.
that last thing is also the sound I hear.
every time.

you have no idea what it feels like to be the cause of that much pain to the person who means more to you than anyone else on Earth.

Considering it was on a relatively isolated country road, help was there almost instantaneously. There was a guy on a motorbike, who was driving behind the guy who hit us, turned out to be an off-duty firefighter, conveniently with a radio on his jacket. So he radios for help while assessing the scene quickly. While he's doing that, someone comes running up from somewhere to help out too, and by the time I look up, there are about 10 people around and cars stopping and checking to see if they can help. Within 10 minutes, there were two ambulances on the scene, one firetruck, about 10-12 firemen and the paramedics who accompanied the ambulances.

(near as I can tell, the guy in the other car was doing alright. I think he just had a bit of a leg problem - possibly broken, but definitely not that serious, since I was told that they only took him to the Niagara Falls hospital)

While we waited for the third ambulance, one paramedic and a few firefighters set to work on Becca and I. Two guys in the back seat supporting our necks, and a paramedic intermittently checking on the two of us. While that's happening, some firefighters set to work on the outside of the car. Someone covers Becca with a blanket and puts in place a plastic shield, and they smash the door windows: front, back and vent. Then they cut the window frames off the doors and pry them open/tear them off. Then the jaws of life come in and cut the beam separating the two passenger-side doors. Now my car has no side.

Becca and I get neck braces put on, and about 5 people get Becca onto a spinal board and onto a stretcher. Now she's gone. All I know is that she was able to squeeze my right hand with her left, tell me she loves me (but nothing much else coherent) and identify that there was a cut on her head somewhere.

Next, a bunch of people reposition me, hoist me onto a spinal board and get me into a separate ambulance. At this point, I'm told that they've specifically arranged to have Becca and I both taken to St. Catherine's General Hospital, which makes me feel the slightest bit better.

the ambulance ride on a spinal board was both painful and nauseating. Spinal boards suck. Big time.

I get to the hospital, "meet" a couple different nurses who take information from me, and then get wheeled into a different, more serious-looking room, and get positioned next to Becca, who reaches out, takes my hand, responds to my tearful apology with "You know what? I love you so much." and a short prayer.

Best. Person. Ever.

(on that note, the only other thing I remember hearing was Becca giving the doctor an earful cause he was talking too fast for her to comprehend and shoving a thermometer in her mouth. He was put in his place so fast. It was awesome. best. person. ever.)

Then I get taken away and told that she's being airlifted to Hamilton General Hospital cause she's having trouble feeling all of her limbs and they're better equipped to test for/treat spinal injuries in Hamilton than they are in St. Catherine's.

I was fine. I was on a spinal board, which hurt, but other than the discomfort caused by the board/collar itself, I knew that I was going to walk away with only a couple bruises and some achy muscles. Miracle #1.

The next few hours are irritating beyond description. Pacing in an unknown section of the E.R. of an unknown hospital for hours is like that. A visit from a cop who has the unenviable task of serving me with my careless driving citation, and collecting some pertinent insurance information. A couple visits from sympathetic nurses who promise to check in at HGH to ask about Becca's condition, and a couple stop-ins from the attending physician to order a blood and urine test to make sure that my kidneys aren't totally screwed. They aren't.

So a bunch of breakdowns, and a crap-load of prayer, later a doctor whom I've not yet seen walks in, asks if I'm the guy whose wife is at Hamilton General, and tells me that she's fine. She is going in for neck x-rays just to be sure, but they're all 99% sure that there's nothing seriously wrong. I choke out a "thank you" and she smiles and walks away.

I don't know that I've ever been knocked over by gratitude before, but it happened, and it was amazing. A nurse with whom I had had no real contact was watching the whole time the doctor was giving me the news, and finally came over, put a hand on my shoulder and asked if I was okay. I couldn't even talk, I just nodded and shook my head when she offered to get me a drink or something. She asked if I was sure and then carried on her way. Nice lady.

Anyway, by this point both my parents and Becca's have been called and are on their way. 2 hours later I'm driving to the wreckers to clean out my car (which is a total write-off) and then off to Hamilton.

Using my dad's cell phone to talk directly to Becca when we were just inside Hamilton was the single greatest phone call of my life. 6 hours after the whole thing started, Becca and I walk out of Hamilton General Hospital, get in my parents' car and drive back to Oshawa to meet her parents.

I've got neck muscles that can only be described as quite tender and sore, and Becca's got a bit of a lingering headache, but the point is that she's fine, and currently sleeping soundly in our bed.

She's the most amazing, strong, supportive, encouraging and courageous person I've ever known. I can't stop apologizing and feeling indescribably guilty, and she just smiles, tells me she loves me, reassures me that we're both fine and that God's still looking out for us, and tells me not to worry.

Best. Person. Ever.

hmmm

2005-04-05T13:54:17Z

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal...along with these instructions:

"Unless we are discussing pure documentaries (and even some of those are "sweetened"), moviemakers must take some artistic licence to make their work more palatable to the audience."

-The Zombie Surival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead

crossbelt @ 2005-03-29T23:55:00

2005-03-30T04:55:50Z

Boy, talk about getting an education...

2005-03-25T02:06:45Z

Things I've learned in the past week...

1) Nothing quite checks your ego like trying to drum using a click-track in a professional studio. Ridiculous. I know I'm not the best drummer ever (or even ever in Peterborough), but I know that I don't suck. I'm pretty sure you'd have to give me at least "competent" status, even if you don't like me much, but holy crap it's hard to drum to a song that you know really well once there's a click-track involved. Moral: metronomes are cruel mistresses indeed.

2) Nothing quite boosts the ego like giving a mini-lecture to a lecture theatre full of 150 2nd year English students and nailing it, and then later that evening being invited to a dinner with two tenured English profs with 30+ years experience each and a visiting PhD-holding lecturer. They're both quite neat things to do if you get a chance.

Incidentally, I know most of you aren't necessarily into this scene, but the Church in the Caf Band will be releasing the CD implied by topic number one in the coming weeks, and selling them for about $13 each to raise money to buy a new sound system. Tell your friends! Let me know if this is something that might interest you in the purchase of music department. And no I won't be offended if church music isn't your thing.

crossbelt @ 2005-03-17T18:01:00

2005-03-17T23:02:01Z

I'm always curious when someone says "I'm part {insert nationality or ethnicity here}" cause I don't know what that means.

Does it mean that you were born and partially raised in (in this case) Ireland? Or is it that one/both of your parents were born and raised there? Is it that somewhere far back in your lineage and acestry someone came from Ireland? If that's the case, does that really constitute being a part of you?

I've also always found it a little curious that a holiday that, to the Irish, is strictly a religious holiday, is considered in North America the perfect excuse to run around pretending/wishing you're Irish, talking in a funny and wrong accent, telling people to kiss you and generally getting lout and plastered on beer with food colouring in it? People who otherwise loathe Guinness will choke it down, insisting that they're enjoying themselves.

Wierd.

crossbelt @ 2005-03-04T08:10:00

2005-03-04T13:11:56Z

SRLF
Raw Score: 45, 30, 45, 70.
Self-aware: Serious in introspection, prone to wisdom.
Reliable: Consistent in foul weather, prone to self-confidence.
Loyal: Obliged to others, prone to be responsible.
Faithful: Genuine in romance, prone to be hurt.

The Integrity Test

I love lj bandwagons. Lemme on!

2005-02-28T07:16:56Z

Ten things I've done that you might not have done:

1. Broken my tailbone (hehehe...coccyx) on water (cliff jumping at the Marmora Mine)
2. Driven to the southern US for dinner
3. Jumped from the roof of one building onto the roof of another
4. Eaten 35 slices of pizza at a Pizza Hut lunch buffet
5. Technically, been inside a casino on every day for over a week.
6. Been kicked out of a state
7. Gotten married
8. Eaten baklava and sipped Greek coffee on a patio overlooking the Ionian Sea (patio wasn't at the Pink Palace, but that's where we were staying... I don't remember the name of the restaurant)
9. Had 21 staples in my head (pic might be gross to some)
10. Hung out in natural hot-spring "jaccuzis"

the songs that no-one knew

2005-02-11T04:48:43Z

1. You see my friends have been replaced by clever doubles who are members of a spawn that come from deep dark outer space.
Barstool Prophets - Paranoia
2. Your black cards can make you money so you hide them when you're able. In the land of milk and honey, you must put them on the table.
Steely Dan (and a cover by Smash Mouth) - Do It Again
5. Put down your drink and clear a space, I think it's time to torch this place; now the girl's in overdrive. "Some of your pals want to stay alive."
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Put a Lid On It
6. I've never personally been to the big party, but I s'pose if I did I'd have a good time.
The Planet Smashers - Super Orgy Porno Party
7. I remember when we used to want to hang out. I remember we could talk about anything.
Everclear - So Much for the Afterglow
10. And of course, Henry the horse dances the waltz.
The Beatles - Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
12. With your narrow-minded cronies who are fools of the first division.
Queen - Death on Two Legs
15. They tell us that we lost our tails, evolving up from little snails. I say it's all just wind and sails.
Devo - Jocko Homo
16. 13 month old baby broke the looking glass, seven years of bad luck, good things in your past.
Stevie Wonder - Superstition
17. But now that you are here, the anger disappears and I feel happy too. This is sappy, but it's true.
Reel Big Fish - Good Thing
18. Like twisted vines they grow, to swallow mansions whole, in the light of an already faded prima donna.
Metallica - The Memory Remains
19. There was a time that I could say right to you that I would never want to leave this place.
Less Than Jake - Never Going Back to New Jersey

ow

2005-02-07T15:38:04Z

So here's the story...

Yesterday I went down to Fleming with some TCF folks to play snow football for a couple hours before going to a Superbowl party. The field that we found and chose seemed to be also used as a soccer field for a kids' league in town, cause it had those tiny nets at either end. They weren't the temporary kind, and there weren't any 'nets' just the goalposts and a crossbar, but the crossbar was low enough that if I was to walk into it, it would hit me straight into the forehead. I would say the top of the crossbar would measure 6 feet or just under.

Anyway, we were having a grand old time (I was having a pretty good game, if I do say so myself---and I do) playing away, and everytime we got near one of the ends, I (and others) would comment on how much it would suck to run into the nets (which, being painted white, were fairly well hidden) or joke about how lucky the short people were cause they could just run through without hitting anything.

The game starts to draw to a close, we had been playing for almost 2 hours, and it's about 4:35-4:40 at this point. We're on defense, and the QB launches a pass which heads right for me (intended for the guy about 15 feet behind me. This makes the pass rather high, but I'm positive I can catch it, so I begin to jog backwards and start to crouch to go into a mighty leap, which ends promptly as I jump with all my force 6 inches into a steel crossbar.

The end result was 40-50 stitches and 21 staples in an 18 cm cut.

I'll post pics when I get them.

crossbelt @ 2005-02-02T01:16:00

2005-02-02T06:22:47Z

Every now and then I get the feeling that no matter where I go or what I do or who I'm with, I'm always just kinda tagging along. It's been a nagging self-esteem thing for a while now (going back a few years) but for some reason it has recently begun to get worse and bother me more. I can't really figure out why that would be, but that's the way it is right now. As a result, I manage to convince myself that I don't really know what I'm doing in jitsu, the other jitsuka probably find me fairly irritating to be around and see me as a kind of 'intruder' in their group (for some reason this includes people who started jitsu a fair bit later than I). I extends also to academics. I just assume that I was offered a 205 facilitator position out of some glaring oversight by the profs and I'm not really smart enough in any way to get into grad school, and I've just been faking my way through my degree, and someone's bound to figure it out soon.

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do about this just yet, and I'm not intending this to be some sort of exercise in compliment-fishing (for whoever actually is reading), but I figured that maybe it would start to make a little more sense if I articulated it in some way.

okay, I'll bite. Have fun!

2005-01-20T17:00:26Z

Step 1: Get your playlist together, put it on random, and play
Step 2: Pick your favorite lines from the first 20 songs that play
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song + artist the lines are from.
Step 4: Cross out the songs when someone guesses correctly

1. You see my friends have been replaced by clever doubles who are members of a spawn that come from deep dark outer space.
2. Your black cards can make you money so you hide them when you're able. In the land of milk and honey, you must put them on the table.
3. Because you don't know us at all, we laugh when old people fall.
4. I'll bet that he was tempted to just quit and turn his back on man...
5. Put down your drink and clear a space, I think it's time to torch this place; now the girl's in overdrive. "Some of your pals want to stay alive."
6. I've never personally been to the big party, but I s'pose if I did I'd have a good time.
7. I remember when we used to want to hang out. I remember we could talk about anything.
~~8. Knockin' me out with those American thighs~~
~~9. It's always tease, tease, tease. You're happy when I'm on my knees.~~
10. And of course, Henry the horse dances the waltz.
~~11. There are luxuries we can't afford, but in our house we never get bored, cause we can dance to the radio station that plays in our teeth.~~
12. With your narrow-minded cronies who are fools of the first division.
~~13. You've torn your dress, your face is a mess, you can't get enough, but enough ain't the test.~~
~~14. The day I don't need a replacement, I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant.~~
15. They tell us that we lost our tails, evolving up from little snails. I say it's all just wind and sails.
16. 13 month old baby broke the looking glass, seven years of bad luck, good things in your past.
17. But now that you are here, the anger disappears and I feel happy too. This is sappy, but it's true.
18. Like twisted vines they grow, to swallow mansions whole, in the light of an already faded prima donna.
19. There was a time that I could say right to you that I would never want to leave this place.
~~20. He's got 95 white Persian monkeys. "He's got the monkeys! Let's see the monkeys!"~~

HI FLOOR!!!! MAKE ME A SAMMICH!!!!!!

2005-01-06T21:20:07Z

You scored as Gir. WOO! Youre the idiot dog brained side kick, GIR! You love just existing and doing fun stuff!

</td>

Gir

100%

Zim

83%

Ms. Bitters

67%

Gaz

67%

The Allmighty Tallest

67%

Professor Membrane

50%

Dib

17%

Which Invader Zim Charecter are You?
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